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Conceptualization |
e·pis"te·mol'o·gy (ï pï stë mó logee) n. : the study of the qualities, basic constitution, and limits of knowledge; the study of the validity of study
sci'ence (sí ë nss) n. : a set of rules and methods for the pursuit of knowledge; objective epistemology
phi·los'o·phy () n. : the science of reality, existence, causality, truth, and the nature of Mankind
i"de·ol'o·gy () n. : the philosophy of social and political doctrine, governing the association of men
per'·cept () n. : a mental impression of something perceived by the senses, viewed as the basic component in the formation of concepts; a sense datum
con'·cept () n. : a mental formation representing the essence of an item or process; a template for the creation of data blocks which represent a specific item or process, in the mind's memory.
An infant opens
its eyes to the world. It senses a swirl of colors, and its mind begins
the task of defining and ordering the random mess of sensual inputs.
Instinctually it concentrates its attention on the sound, smell, and feel of
female existence nearby. The sensual inputs, especially sights, are
eventually placed in similar categories within the mind. These similar
categories are a special form of concept called a percept. All future
conceptualization, by the young mind, will be based upon these beginning
concepts. The similar categories are known to most as characteristics of
objects. Eventually the young mind subsumes that colors and shapes are
characteristics of a larger concept. The concept of an object.
The human mind works much the same as a
computer. In our short history with computers, there have been many
different techniques to program them. Each technique, or language, has its strengths and
weaknesses. Each is suited specifically for one of the various tasks to which the
computer has been used. Evolution of the programming languages has led to one
type of programming which has proven itself most efficacious to the development
and design of all computer programs; regardless the task. It is the type
of programming that mirrors the way in which the human mind is programmed to
store data.
It is called "Object Oriented Programming" (OOP). To understand
the mind's ability to conceptualize, we should first become familiar with the
basic principles of Object Oriented Programming.
In computer programming, as in the mind, data
must be stored and manipulated. Each programming language has forms of
storage or memory allocation. Differing types of numbers take differing
amounts of memory for storage and manipulation. In the mind, dependent on the
conceptual context,
memory blocks of differing sizes are allocated to hold the various types of
data. This is also done in Object Oriented Programming. The strength and adaptability of Object Oriented Programming comes
from its grouping of related data items into large and complex memory structures
called "Classes". In the early days of development, they were
called "Structures", but as they evolved to contain other structures
and functions they became known as Classes. A Class and a concept are
alike. Though a concept, or a Class, takes an amount of memory; it must
only be stored once. In other words, the definitions, relations, and
standard of measure used to describe an item must only be stored once in the
brain or computer. This Class, or concept, is used repeatedly to define
items of similar design. This allows an incredible amount of data to be
stored without definition, except for the Class definition already in
memory. A computer is programmed with use of Classes, and a mind is
programmed with use of concepts. The two have identical properties and
characteristics. Let us use the concept of a table as an example.
Below is the way a simple Class, a "table" Class, would be defined in
"C++", which is an Object
Oriented Programming language. All
items must be defined as a data type. The data type specification
"unsigned" designates an integer that will only have a value
that is positive or zero. A "Byte" data type is the same, with
the exception that it will be a value from 0 to 255. Notice it contains data items that are
defined by two other classes, a "Color" Class and a simple 2 dimensional
shape Class (their definitions follow the Table Class definition).
[ NOTE: Since the original writing of this page, "Classes" are now referred to directly as "OBJECTS" ]
class Table
{
Table();
~Table();
Color color;
SimShapeX2 top;
unsigned top_thickness;
unsigned number_of_legs;
unsigned height;
};
class Color
{
Byte blue;
Byte green;
Byte red;
};
class SimpleShapeX2
{
unsigned length1;
unsigned length2;
};
Tables all have common characteristics. They vary in shape and size.
Once the values for color, shape, number of legs, top thickness, and height are
supplied, we will have a fairly good idea of the table's description. Our
shape class has two dimensions that are perfect for holding length and width
measurements of a rectangle, or foci information for an ellipse. Not all
tables will have regular surface shapes, and our table class would be better
served by a more complete shape class that could hold the necessary
values. This simple shape class will do for this example. For those of you
interested in the color class, the human eye is sensitive to only three colors
(Red, Green, and Blue). Our minds create other colors from the mixture of stimulation
intensity given by the cone receptors on the retina of the eyeball. The
values of the color class are Bytes and range from 0 to 255 because they are
stored in 8 bit binary data blocks. This requires a total of 24 bits for the
three colors. When your computer uses this type of color class, it is
called "24 bit color". This defines all colors by their amounts
of red, green, and blue. Each color value can range from 0 to 255 (in
hexadecimal that would be 00 to FF ... White = FFFFFF ... Red = FF0000 ... Green
= 00FF00 ... Blue = 0000FF ... Black = 000000).
It is important to understand the difference
between a Class and an Instance of a Class. A Class defines the
nature and order of the information to be stored. When a Class is
utilized, an Instance must be created. The values for each defined characteristic
are supplied in the creation and the result is committed to a block of memory
containing a list of only data values. This is the important
concept. The list of values is stored without definition, but identified
as an Instance of the Class Table. A Class is the structure of definitions
which apply to the list of values. The list of values is an Instance
of the defining Class. Plato failed to recognized that the perfect forms he imagined were
a creation of his mind; used in its operation. Imagine a table, do not recall the memory of a table but
imagine one that you have never perceived. Picture it in your mind. Is it
floating in the black void of space? What color is it? Is it a
coffee table? Have you also imagined a room that contains the table?
What color are the walls of the room? These questions will allow you to
see your own mental process of creation. Your mind has created an Instance
of a Table object. When you create an Instance of an object, your mind
supplies default values to the data members of the Class. The result is
the table that you have imagined. You have constructed an Instance of the
Class Table; a Table Instance. In the previous example definition of the Class Table, there
were two items that were left unexplained. The Constructor,
"Table();" and the Destructor, "~Table();". The
Constructor creates the Instance by allocating the memory, identifying it as a
Table Class and filling it with chosen default values. This function
allows the programmer to define the default values. The Destructor destroys the
Instance, by freeing the allocated memory to other
uses. It does not destroy the Class Table, but just frees the memory block
used by the Instance; which is simply a list of values. The Constructor
and Destructor do not construct or destroy the Class, they construct or destroy
Instances of the Class. Your mind used a constructor to create the table in your mind.
Why did it use those particular values? This is the essence of
your mind and that which many consider to be your soul. It is your mind;
it is you. What are your mind's default values that are intrinsic
to the creation of your thought? What are your natural tendencies?
The Table
Class is an example of a special form of the Class Furniture; which in turn is a special form of the
Class Object. All
objects stem from the "Base Class" Object. They exist and most are
perceptual in nature. A concept is a general form that allows the mind to
group objects or actions into similar groups and facilitates the ordering of
sensory input and thought. The table you remember from home, is the most
basic form of concept called a percept. It exists in reality and is
perceived by your senses. Conceptualization allows imagination. The
table you imagine, exists only in your mind; your consciousness. Conceptualization allows abstraction of
concepts beyond the bounds of percepts.
Why use Classes or concepts? What is their purpose?
If one were to try and remember a the dinning room table, each shape and color
would have to be memorized not only as a value, but each value would have an
enormous amount of memory used in the definition. So many values used to simply define the character and place of one value.
Over 90% of these values are the same for every table ... furniture. When memorizing the dinning
room table, the mind which creates a Class, uses the nearly same amount of memory as a
mind that does not. The difference being that the definition data is
formed into a concept and the value data is held in memory as an Instance of the
concept. The value data are simple numbers generated by use of a Standard,
by which a characteristic is measured. The percept, or Class Table, takes as much memory as
the individual definition tags used by the mind which holds each item's
definition and identification with the value data (with the exception of a few
repetitive items). The advantage occurs
when the mind later memorizes the coffee table. The mind, that has not
conceptualized a Class Table object, must now create the huge number of definitions
and associations pertaining to each piece of value data, and allocate a huge
amount of memory to store it. The mind, that
has conceptualized a table, checks the definition data against the percept data
in memory. The definition tags match the concept of table. The
voluminous definition tags are dropped, and the data is defined as a table
concept, with the values listed in proper order to fit the concept. This mind
then simply stores the data as a list of values defined as
a Table concept or Class, and does not need to repeat memory allocation for the definition
of each data item and association. This list of values is an Instance of a Table
Class object.
Each Instance of a Table Class object is a concise list of values, which takes
little memory and can be used to compare other items of the Table Class.
The mind, which does not create the concept, may only vaguely be aware that the
dining room table and the coffee table are similar. The mind that does not
create the percepts needed to identify the relation of objects around it, will
soon fill its memory with unrelated and repetitive definitions.
Reallocating memory to store the newest data; the older data in the mind will
be destroyed in a disorganized manner. The relation of objects may not be
recognized, and the affects of time are vague and limited to a small period
centered about the present. If you are human, then your internal mind,
often referred to as the subconscious, is busy creating percepts from your
sensual input, and as a human, you are aware of time. If you are a cat, your mind is
not developing much beyond basic and primitive percepts. A cat's mind has a
limited awareness of time. That is why cats seldom delay their instinctual
action for future rewards. As the early homonids enriched their diet, their bodies could support larger brains.
As the ability to conceptualize became more and more efficient, the amount of data stored per area of brain increased.
Larger brain with more capacity, and conceptualization increasing the efficiency of the storage.
The hominid's brain grew in performance exponentially beyond anything that had existed before.
Imagination and intelligence were born with the first being to recognize and conceptualize TIME.
The nature of the mind and of thought consist
of the continual comparison of concepts in the creation of larger concepts.
The smaller concepts are subsumed into larger more efficient concepts that have been relationally integrated.
This is IMAGINATION at work creating and correlating the larger and larger objects.
Imagination uses sleep time to codify the short term memory into long term memory and Concepts ... dreams.
Imagination as stated many times, can also create instances of objects that do not exist in reality, and distract the mind from reality ... the blur.
The efficiency of a concept implicitly depends upon values. In the discussion above, notice the number of times the word value was
used. Our mind and our memory is all based upon a network of values.
The mind creates standards by which to measure or judge all percepts.
These "Standards of Value" are intrinsic to the mind. The
conscious mind is given the task of creating these standards and measuring
actions or objects in relation to them. The resulting value is used and
ordered by the subconscious as it builds its concept of reality. Each
value submitted by the conscious mind is a judgment of value. It is the
nature and task of the conscious mind to continually evaluate and judge the values in everything it
perceives. If an individual assumes the responsibility of being human, he
then must judge value. The most ignored or confused Standard of Value, is
that by which human behavior is judged. Since human behavior is not
automated, but created with purpose, it is the only creation of intelligence and
the only value that can be considered on the scale of "Good and
Evil". Good and Evil are the antipodes of
this Standard. The standard is determined by an individual's
ideology. Ideology is determined by an individual's philosophy and
recognized by its metaphysical base and epistemological method. Science is
the epistemological methodology of rational men. Not the pseudo-science of
the irrational, that fills the media today, but the limited endeavors of a
controlled and disciplined mind.
When I use the word "table", I do it without effort and without
thought. Once the subconscious mind has created the appropriate
associations and developed a percept or concept, it must be identified by a
name. Our conscious mind then assigns a word to identify the
concept. When the conscious mind perceives or imagines an object or an
action, the defining information is compared to the concepts held within the
subconscious. Once a relation is found, the word identifying the concept
is evoked in the conscious. When a word is used in communication, the
spoken word evokes an instance of the concept in the mind of the person hearing
the word. As a noun is defined
by adjectives. The default values of your mind are replaced with the values held within the adjectives. When action concepts, known as
verbs, are used, the default values are replaced by the use of adverbs. Words are more than a tool of communication between two humans,
words are used to internalize concepts. Once the concept is created and
identified by a word, it is internalized and the associated concept may be used without
conscious thought.
Internalized concepts can remain in memory throughout our lives if they are
accessed regularly, or subsumed into our core concept of reality. The larger and more integrated one's concept of
reality, the longer lasting and stable is one's memory. Internalized concepts allow persons to use extremely
complicated thought processes without review of the full logical association
used during the creation of those processes. Words define concepts.
The manner and content of a person's speech gives great insight into the
workings and content of that person's mind. Irrational individuals keep
their mind in a "blur". Their concepts are simple and not well
defined. Their vocabulary is small and they use "sound bites" to
imply not meaning but feeling; "like, ya know what I mean?". Concepts are used in the association of items
or ideas. This association changes with time. These changes lead to
the concept of causality and the awareness of time. The human mind's purpose is to
use causal relationships to predict the future; devising a plan of behavior suited to its survival.
Behavior is the ultimate judgment.
The subconscious is the working mind. It
tirelessly works to order data by reusing percepts and concepts. The
subconscious tries to order data into Instances. When there is no concept
to fit the data, it creates one. The new concept is then evaluated against
the existing conceptual structure. When our mind becomes aware of relations
between concepts, the mind creates larger concepts and subsumes the related
concepts into them. For instance, a child soon becomes aware that a
"table" is a special form of the newly created larger concept
"furniture". This is the nature of imagination and human
conceptualization. Creativity is the creation of concepts. The
larger concepts hold the smaller ones. The mind becomes extremely ordered
by holding vast data definitions in larger and larger concepts. The large
concepts allow the mind to store vast amounts of data about similar items, using
little memory for definition, freeing huge blocks of memory to simply hold
a list of values as Instances of the concepts. The imagination of the human
mind is continually creating concepts in an attempt to order its contents.
It attempts to create a single large concept that mirrors reality.
Integration is vital. New concepts must relate to previous concepts and percepts.
When new data can be integrated or linked to previous concepts;
it is quickly assimilated as truth. When new data conflicts with previous
concepts, then a suitable concept must be integrated to link the data without
conflict, or the previous concepts must be examined and adjusted to fit. A
mind that does not integrate new data into the existing conceptual structure, is
a mind filled with confusion. This is the mind filled with fear, loathing,
and disdain for reality. This is the irrational mind; it's data is
disjointed and held with huge volumes of unrelated definition. This is the
mind that sees less and less of the future, and becomes incapable of behavior in
accordance with survival. The uniquely human instinct within us,
stemming from a failure of the subconscious to efficiently order data, evokes an emotion, just as touching fire evokes pain.
Pain elicits a response that removes contact with the fire.
Our human reaction to a disordered and disjointed reality is a type of fear, helplessness, anxiety, or self-loathing.
This emotion is felt deep within us and this agony builds cumulatively with time.
It is often identified as guilt. Humans experiencing this systemic turmoil must use their volition, to focus their mind upon reality.
They must become focused and honest. As humans, we recognize ourselves by our conscious mind, and the behavior associated with its operation.
When a human's conscious mind is volitionally focused, engaged in
survival and understanding reality, the data delivery matches the need of the
subconscious mind's quest and the human experiences a deep inner sense
of joy, known as pride, self-esteem, or most often as happiness.
One cannot buy happiness, it must be earned through the focus of ones mind.
Have you ever witnessed the awe and wide-eyed joy of a young child that has just learned a new concept?
It is the joy of a mind that feels efficacious to survival in an ordered reality.
It is the building of self-esteem. Children are not born with self-esteem, their minds must earn it.
Conceptual Evaluation
Arbitrary
Those concepts that are based on other than the integrated context of ones mind, or are unable to be defined by other than exclusive identity.
Possible
Those concepts that agree with the current integrated context of one's mind.
Probable
Those concepts that agree with the current integrated context of one's mind, and represent the most elegant, concise, and likely explanation.
Certain
Those fully integrated concepts that are part of the current integrated context of one's mind, and in agreement with all other fully integrated concepts and percepts. Most every percept is a "certain" concept.
"Fully integrated" concepts are linked to the perceptual base of reason, and have no links which have yet to be integrated. Concepts that have been subsumed into the concept of reality, and form the foundation of the mental context. For instance, one plus one equals two; regardless the future concepts of mathematics that may be subsumed, this concept does not change. It is fundamental and at the base of mathematical conceptualization. It may be found to be a special case of a larger concept, but the concept remains as originally formed.
